Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to radio communications and more particularly to wireless communication devices utilizing one or more liquid MEMS components.
Description of Related Art
Radio frequency (RF) communication devices are known to facilitate wireless communications in one or more frequency bands in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols or standards. To accommodate multiple communication protocols, or standards, an RF communication device includes multiple versions (one for each protocol) of each section of the RF communication device (e.g., baseband processing, RF receiver, RF transmitter, antenna interface) and/or includes programmable sections. For example, an RF communication device may include a programmable baseband section, multiple RF receiver sections, multiple RF transmitter sections, and a programmable antenna interface.
To provide at least some of the programmable capabilities of a programmable section of an RF communication device, the section includes one or more programmable circuits, wherein the programmability is achieved via a switch-based bank of circuit elements (e.g., capacitors, inductors, resistors). For instance, selecting various combinations of a switch-based bank of capacitors and switch-based bank of inductors yields various resonant tank circuits that can be used in filters, as loads in amplifiers, etc. A recent advance in RF technology is to use integrated circuit (IC) micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) switches to provide the switches of a switch-based bank of circuit elements.
Issues with IC MEMS switches include minimal contact areas (which creates heat spots), bouncing of electrical contact (which limits use to cold switching), and a limited life cycle. In response to these issues, more recent advances in RF technology employ IC implemented liquid RF MEMS switches (which may also be referred to as electro-chemical wetting switches). As IC fabrication technologies continue to evolve and reduce the size of IC dies and components fabricated thereon, IC implemented liquid RF MEMS switches may have limited applications.